AU military officers meet in Somalia over counter-terrorism strategy

MOGADISHU, Nov. 21 — Senior military commanders from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) started a meeting in Mogadishu on Monday to review and re-assess their operations and counter-terrorism strategy.

The sector commanders’ meeting focused on the effectiveness of ground troops and the possibility of increasing troop size to enable the Mission to conduct more offensive operations and recover territory still under the control of Al-Shabaab.

In his opening remarks, Special Representative of the African Union Commission Chairperson (SRCC) for Somalia, Francisco Caetano Madeira lauded the troops for their dedication to securing the ongoing electoral process and enabling the exercise to progress smoothly.

“I am happy to hear that in all sectors, AMISOM is viewed with respect, because AMISOM is effectively securing the electoral process. It shows we are living up to our commitment, despite all the challenges,” Madeira told the military commanders.

He emphasized the urgent need to build capacity within the Somali National Army (SNA), which he noted, is central to AMISOM’s exit strategy.

The AMISOM Sector Commanders will be joined by their counterparts from the SNA for deliberations on joint operations, among other things.

“The focus for this conference will be to re-assess our current situation, to decide what more we can do to achieve our military objectives, within our current resources,” AMISOM Force Commander Lt. General Osman Noor Soubagleh said.

“We must re-assess our current positions and structures in order to identify where we may be able to free up forces to conduct operations,” he added.